We awoke this morning to the sounds of large crashing waves. Since our arrival on Sunday we have been able to hear the waves from inside our condo when we open the windows or doors but this morning we could hear them when everything was closed. We looked outside to see 6-7 waves crashing on the shore (about double what we had seen previously). Something had clearly changed overnight!

As we found out from another couple staying in a nearby condo, a tropical storm had moved in several hundred miles north of us which caused the change in the ocean. We had breakfast on our patio with the roar of the waves filling the air and the sight of water charging up on the shore across the entire bay. We eventually made our way down to the beach to soak up some sun and get a closer look at the waves. Neither of us were interested in swimming in these seas but there were plenty of fellow onlookers gawking at the large swells.

Following a short ten minute drive we arrived at our lunch spot on the other side of the island along Rendezvous Bay (a new part of the island for us) which faces the island of Saint Martin – which we will be exploring tomorrow. In this Bay the water was nearly flat calm and you would have idea that there were major swells just a few miles away. The lunch spot we picked out is called Sunshine Shack, Sunshine Shack, just like Gwen’s from a couple days ago, epitomizes the “liming” mentality. We were joined by locals, fellow travelers, and the crew of a few yachts that moored in the Bay for the day. The makeshift bar was buzzing with the sounds of drinks being made, the informal grills were smoking with delicious meat and seafood and the sounds of steel drums filled the air. We sampled locally caught spiny lobster and BBQ chicken and ribs, all of which was delicious. Following lunch we walked along the bay and cooled off in the aquamarine water before making it back to our beach.

As in the morning we spent time on the beach enjoying the large waves crashing on the beach. Following the complimentary 5 p.m. rum punch (something we build our day around) we made our way to dinner at another restaurant along Mead’s Bay, enjoying the beautiful sunset and crashing waves on the way (videos in our gallery!). Tonight we had dinner at Savi where we ate sushi, which came on a dragon boat platter, and a New York strip along with an amazing spicy miso with chunks of lobster.

Throughout the day we finalized our plans for the adventures that await us tomorrow on Saint Martin. We have booked a rental car so that we will be able to explore both the French and Dutch sides of the island before making our way back to Anguilla in the evening. More on this interesting neighboring island country tomorrow!